Scientists create Star Trek-style phaser that can both stun and revive creatures

[AsahinaKimi]

Scientists have created a Star Trek style phaser that can be used to both stun and revive creatures.

However so far the weapon, which uses a special form of light, has only been used on tiny worms, not menacing Klingons.

Canadian researchers fed pinhead-sized worms with a solution containing the molecule dithienylethene.

This changed the molecular structure and colour of the worms when they were exposed to different light wavelengths.

When the scientists shone an ultraviolet light on the transparent creatures they turned blue and couldn't move. A beam of normal light then revived most of the worms although a few did not survive the process.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1229464/Star-Trek-style-phaser-created-stun-revive-creatures.html#ixzz0XUgQqNZg

[kentauros]

1. So, first we have to inject everyone with the molecule of dithienylethene.

Then, whenever we get out of control, they can hit us with that special light, though some of us won't survive.

Might as well just develop Tesla's Directed-energy weapon ;)

[rcrush]

2. Dont make fun of Teslas weapons

They can fry you from the sky. Or mess with your brain!

[vadawg]

20. i have a weapon that can have a imilar effect, its my mighty hammer

though the waking up part sometimes dosent work. But this is interesting as hell, would make a cool less than lethal weapon...

[kentauros]

25. Get a woodworker's hammer then.

There's more surface area, it's harder to miss, and there's more mass :P

[struggle4progress]

3. This will be very useful when we need to fight off pinhead-sized worms during intergalactic travel

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. No worries. Bill O'Reilly has yet to get his hands on a space ship. n/t

[Orrex]

5. I keep waiting for someone to point out that these aren't real phasers...

and that the original phasers from 40 years ago were so much cooler.

[kentauros]

9. I believe I did.

I just didn't use the word "phaser"

[Orrex]

10. Well, okay. But you aren't the geek I was snarking about.

:hi:

[Orrex]

6. Whoops! Duplicate!

Blame it on an artificial, time-warping singularity caused by red matter.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Don't phase me, bro

Tasing is so, well, yesterday.

:hi:

[Orrex]

8. I never forget a phase.

[omega minimo]

11. Can they create one that will both STUN and REVIVE the series after that dreck prequel movie?

Someone please tell me some redeeming qualities aside from a couple of the actors (NOT Kirk, Spock or Beyonce)

[Orrex]

12. Whoa. It's like I'm seeing a ghost or something.

[omega minimo]

13. Answer the question, you can't

hmmmmmmmm?

[Orrex]

14. Not sure what answer would satisfy you, but here are a few thoughts:

1. We learned how Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru
2. We learned why Kirk calls McCoy "Bones"
3. We got to see a more complex and chaotic space battle than Trek had previously shown
4. We saw a new twist on Trek's very tired time travel formula
5. We finally got some indication that Uhura can do more than wear that retro Bluetooth thing in her ear
6. We got to see Spock wrestling with his emotions in a way we hadn't previously seen
6a. That's a nice nod to Spock's shouty and impulsive characterization in The Menagerie
6b. It also gave us the chance to see Spock's & Kirk's friendship arise from mutually-earned respect despite their initial antagonism
7. It had better pacing than at least five of the previous films: III, V, VII, IX, and X.
8. It gave us an interesting update on a 40-year-old vision of the technology of the far future, much of which already exists in some fashion
9. It offered a vision of Starfleet's population that wasn't stupidly cartoonish (Star Trek IV) or blandly derivative (Star Trek III)
10. It said a big "Fuck you" to the over-revered "canon" in much the same way that Roddenberry himself did whenever it suited him

I found the action sequences enjoyable, the performances entirely credible, the effects top-notch, and the story as a whole sufficient to drive the film along. It's far from a perfect movie, of course, but you can't reboot a stagnant, billion-dollar franchise in one stroke. Star Trek was a good first step toward revitalizing a property that had languished for far too long.

[omega minimo]

15. Good list. What did we learn that Uhura can do more than wear that retro Bluetooth thing in her ear?

[Orrex]

16. Well, she speaks three Romulan dialects, for starters

And she's generally less apt to put up with Kirk's bullshit.

Incidentally, this creates an inconsistency that can't be explained by Nero's time-burp; the tragically overwrought Star Trek VI showed Uhura being visibly annoyed that Klingons spoke some inferior non-English tongue, whereas this revisioning of Uhura is an eager student of languages.

Hey, it's not as though Abrams made her President of the Federation, but he had to start with what Roddenberry left him; where it goes from there is up for grabs.

[omega minimo]

17. Yes and they used it to slide in a "talented tongue" joke.

Uhura never took bullshit from anyone.

[Orrex]

18. To be clear: I blame the writers, not Ms. Nichols.

And the "talented tongue" joke is ancient and has been used interchangeably by both sexes and in reference to both sexes, so I can't see any particular reason to criticize the current film for it particularly.

[omega minimo]

19. reason is the cliched, sexist, exploitative, shallow, cutesy way the Uhura character was presented

overall in the new film.

[Orrex]

21. Well, you called her Beyonce. I guess that's somehow insightful instead of shallow and cutesy.

Anyway, as mentioned previously, Abrams was rebooting the series, starting from the world that Roddenberry created. Therefore he was constrained by the choices that Roddenberry made, at least until the point of divergence. We'll see where things go from here in the followup.

If women in the next film are still stuck in Roddenberry's futuristic vision of go-go boots and miniskirts, then I'll share your dissatisfaction.

[omega minimo]

22. Miss the point if you choose.

[Orrex]

23. No, I addressed your point, and you missed it.

What point do you think you were making? That Knowles and Saldana are indistinguishable?

Curious.

[omega minimo]

26. No you didn't. You missed it intentionally and entirely. And somehow skipped

every part of the franchise between the original series and now. :crazy:

[Name removed]

27. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sabriel]

24. Yes, but can they set it to overload, thereby creating a diversion?

Or flooding Ten Forward with chronoton radiation?